Foundation Stick
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Essence Site →Amazon →Ulta →SUMMARY OF REVIEWS
The Essence Foundation Stick is a polarizing product: several creators praise its lightweight, blendable texture and dewy or natural finish, with Tati calling it "one of the most gorgeous stick foundations, period" and noting the affordable price and wide shade range. However, professional makeup artist Morgan Turner strongly disagrees, reporting it sits on top of the skin, clings to dry patches, and looks textured, calling it "the worst foundation that I've put on my face this year.
FULL REVIEWS
POSITIVE
- “The moment I tried this, I was so mad at myself for not trying it sooner because this is one of the most gorgeous stick foundations, period. Drugstore or not”3:40–3:46
- “It melts into the skin. It's not gummy. It's not patchy. It's not fingerprinty”3:48–3:55
- “It has the right amount of coverage. It's not too heavy. It's not too light. It wears great”3:55–3:59
- “You can underpaint with the different shades. They have so many different shades and each tube is like five, six bucks”3:59–4:05
- “You can bron with this, contour with this, you can brighten with this. One of the greatest launches in 2025. So underrated”4:05–4:11
- “I'm giving it like a massive thumbs up”4:16–4:20
- Source: Best Drugstore Makeup of 2025 - Dec 26, 2025
Variant: 160
- “This only cost about six euros if you can believe that”28:38–28:49
- “This is a very very lightweight foundation stick. So I would say the coverage is somewhere between light to medium which just suits me on a daily basis”28:45–28:53
- “Like with the Lumi matte literally blends itself. I mean, if you've ever used the Dior foundation stick and you've seen how blendable that is, this is even more blendable. So, it literally just melts into the skin. It actually blends out like butter”28:56–29:03
- “I like this because it gives me a really healthy, dewy finish to the skin”29:11–29:19
- “This is one of the best foundations of the year, but you have to like light coverage, although it is buildable and you have to like a dewy, glowy finish”29:27–29:31
- Source: The best makeup of 2025 - Dec 29, 2025
- “This was the surprise hit in that video”1:05–1:09
- “This one is really good”1:14–1:16
- Source: $30 Makeup Challenge: Full Face of Dollar Tree Makeup - Nov 17, 2025
Variant: 03
- “This is the new Essence Cosmetics foundation stick”0:08–0:11
- “Today I'm trying the shade 03”0:09–0:12
- “Does look very fair and definitely leans yellow”0:11–0:14
- “Ooh. Um, wow. That is currently such a good shade match”0:19–0:23
- “She did not dry down darker. There's not any oxidation. Color me impressed”0:27–0:30
- Source: Drugstore Pale Olive Foundation Find - Oct 15, 2025
Variant: 170
- “This new Essence Stick Foundation is really good”0:08–0:12
- “It's hydrating and creamy”0:10–0:15
- “It comes in 43 shades total, but it has great coverage and has a natural matte finish”0:12–0:18
- Source: Best drugstore makeup under $10 - Sep 5, 2025
Variant: 170
- “This has a natural finish and it's a very just lightweight, breathable kind of foundation”5:42–5:47
- “Doesn't have a ton of coverage, but you can build it up”5:47–5:54
- “It's so good”
- “I personally really like it”
- “Whenever I just want something very natural”6:08–6:11
- “The Essence foundation stick I love because it has that natural finish, buildable coverage”5:30–5:35
- “It's really lightweight, good for day-to-day”
- Source: Full face of Essence makeup under $10 - Mar 28, 2026
Variant: Medium Light
- “Oh, that's like the perfect color. Oh my god. Imagine how light the lightest shade is then”10:49–10:59
- “They had a pretty big shade range, especially for like the price range”11:01–11:08
- “It's got a nice like peachy, not pink or yellow undertone, like a perfect neutral peachy type of undertone, which is kind of hard to find in cheaper foundations”11:19–11:25
- “It does have a fragrance. Why does everything have a fragrance?”11:34–11:36
- “Blending out beautifully, though”11:36–11:39
- “Honestly, this is pretty good coverage”12:05–12:09
- Source: Full face of Essence Cosmetics - Feb 7, 2026
MIXED / NEGATIVE
Variant: 140
- “My issue with this one is it sits on top of the skin”4:55–5:02
- “You can even see as I'm applying it, it's just not looking smooth at all”5:00–5:06
- “This makes the ColourPop look good”5:22–5:27
- “This Essence one is arguably the worst foundation that I've put on my face this year”5:36–5:44
- “It is an affordable product, but it's not even worth how affordable Essence can be”5:44–5:49
- “This one, in my opinion, was a major major fail”5:55–6:01
- “It's attaching to dry patches that I can assure you really aren't there that no other foundation is going to detect”6:06–6:11
- “It's literally even making the ColourPop foundation look really smooth”6:13–6:17
- Source: Worst makeup of 2025 - Jan 1, 2026
WHAT CREATORS SAY
- Consensus
- 4.1 / 5 from 8 creator reviewsGrailPeople ratings based on creator reviews.
- Good for
- Olive skin tones (1)
- Features
- Blendable (3) · Wide shade range (3) · Lightweight (2) · Buildable (2) · Natural / everyday (2)
- Value
- Value for money (2)
- ⚠ can feel drying / tight (1)
- ⚠ harder to blend (1)
- ⚠ creators flagged issues with natural finish (1)
- ⚠ feels overpriced to some (1)
- ⚠ scent some found off-putting (1)
Product details
Details
- Type
- foundation stick
- Finish
- —
- Shade
- 170
- Key ingredients
- Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Octyldodecanol, Isononyl Isononanoate, Kaolin, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Synthetic Wax, Dimethicone, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Sodium Hyaluronate, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer
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